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The Athens-Clarke County Fire and Emergency Services Department should beef up its ability to respond to non-fire emergencies such as serious auto accidents, according to a Clarke County grand jury.

The department also needs to work with police and 911 agencies to improve response times when private ambulances are far away, according to the grand jury report released earlier this month.

The department should also appoint a medical director, according to the report.

The grand jurors stopped well short of recommending that the fire department should become a full-fledged ambulance service. Because of improved building codes, firefighters don’t have to battle as many fires as in the past, and in some states, governments have responded by forcing firefighters to double as emergency medical services.

The main problem is a few “glitches” in procedures for dispatching police emergency services, according to grand jury foreman John Marsh.

Under current rules, fire emergency units are supposed to respond to serious motor vehicle accidents, cardiac arrests, drownings, or near drownings, and when a private ambulance is not available.

But the rules don’t always work as they should, grand jurors said, partly because police officers sometimes don’t know them and partly because some of the protocols need slight changes.

Athens-Clarke Fire Chief Iby George is studying the grand jury’s recommendations, but said he disagrees with some of them.

George said his department does not need a medical director.

“Our folks are not certified medical responders,” he said.

In some states, many fire departments have taken on the role of emergency medical services, or ambulance services, as the number of fire calls decreased. But in Georgia, fire-based EMS is uncommon, he said.

“That’s a policy decision that local jurisdictions have made,” he said.

And there’s not enough space on fire engines to include the immobilization and stabilization equipment the grand jury recommended, he said.

George also questioned a potential change in the rules that would limit firefighters’ emergency responses to Clarke County. The way the rules are written now, firefighters can respond when needed to emergencies in the service area of National EMS, which includes Oconee County as well as Athens-Clarke.

Sometimes, Athens-Clarke units may be closer to an emergency in Oconee County than any National units are, George said.